The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dahlia plant, botanically known as Dahlia hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name `Gallery Monet`.
The new Dahlia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Lisse, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create Dahlia cultivars with freely branching growth habit, decorative inflorescence form, attractive ray floret colors, and good inflorescence longevity. The Gallery Dahlias are the products of cross-pollinations between unidentified selections of Dahlia coccinea and compact Dahlia hybrids.
The new Dahlia originated from a cross made by the Inventor of the Dahlia `Gallery Art Deco`, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,525, as the female, or seed, parent with the proprietary Dahlia selection identified as VLE 6 as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Dahlia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Lisse, The Netherlands, in 1995. The selection of this plant was based on its decorative inflorescence form and attractive ray floret coloration.
Asexual reproduction of the new Dahlia by cuttings was first conducted in Lisse, The Netherlands in 1996. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Dahlia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.